I woke up last night...

...and in the darkness I saw that the bedroom door was open. It struck me as odd, because I always keep it closed at night. Just then, my wife leaned over me and gave me a little kiss. She quietly went around to the other side of the bed, climbed in under the covers and fell asleep curled up next to me.

Then I woke up. It was just a dream. The door was closed. I was alone in bed.

No... not yet... I'm still gingerly testing the waters of civil conversation with her. I'm not certain she's ready to hear something like this, and I'm not yet sure I trust her to not react badly to it. Besides, there's other conversations we'll need to have before either of us is ready to share something like this.

I, too have very intense vivid dreams (since childhood) and some of them can freak me out for days.

I had a dream a while ago that I was having an affair with a fantastic man who was so nice to me and I was so happy with him, but I was wracked with guilt that I was cheating. Then I woke up and realized that the man in the dream WAS my husband, I just didn't recognize him because he was behaving so radically different.

My husband trampled all over my boundaries for so many years, that now I have an excruciating stress reaction before I can control it, almost whenever he gets in touch (we live apart). I have regular dreams about my frustration at his complete inability to be what I wanted him to be, to be responsible, to listen to reason, to behave in a way that remotely aligns with his role as husband and father. ie to take some of the weight of responsibility from my shoulders completely. He does not, will not, cannot do this and yet insists I do things for the children which just add to my burdens. Last night I dreamt I slapped him. O dear. Woke feeling terrible.

Just suffering the long sad after effects of trying to make something work which couldn't. The realisation that it was all a false endeavour is heart breaking. He won't even begin to comply with the psychiatrist's strongly worded advice. Because then I would be 'right' and I will 'win'. All nonsense. This is not a competition. Very sad and lonely tonight, can't sleep.